Diagon Alley during the Summer of 1991
by CypressWand
Summary: A one-shot of what happened behind the scenes when Hagrid guided Harry through Diagon Alley for the first time in the year of 1991. STORY: COMPLETE


**Diagon Alley during the Summer of 1991**

It was easier for her to track him down as a cat. He always carried a whiff of flower-scented robes and the sweet and sour tinge of lemon drops around him. Once she had passed Twillfitt and Tattings, the scent of lemon grew strongest in front of a shop called Gambol and Japes. "I should've known," she thought, and sighed a high note through her nose. With the creak of the door she pushed her way inside and found Dumbledore inspecting a square looking object from a shelf, his eyes shimmering in delight.

'Hello Minerva,' he said once he felt her rub her head up against his leg and smiled. 'The owner is in the back. Feel free to transform yourself if you wish.'

McGonagall cracked a small purr in understanding and swiftly transformed back into her human form. She flattened out her tartan robe and fixed her square glasses on the tip of her sharp nose. 'Do you even know where the boy is?' she asked bitterly, her lips turning thin at the sight of Dumbledore holding a suspicious looking package.

'With Hagrid, as you know,' Dumbledore responded casually. 'He got his robes fitted at Madam Malkin's a moment ago. I know because Hagrid's too large to enter the shop and so I spoke to him briefly as he was holding a melting ice cream for the boy as he waited for him to finish. Does that reassure you, Minerva?'

'Alright,' McGonagall said, her lips still tight. 'But I didn't see them there as I passed the shop on my way to you. Are you sure—'

'—Pull this for me, Minerva, if you will?' Dumbledore held the suspicious-looking package with a string on each end in front of her.

'Albus, this is not a proper time to—'

'—Please, Minerva,' Dumbledore interrupted her with childlike excitement. 'Perhaps a few laughs will help you deal with the stress.'

She huffed through her nose the same way she had done in her Animagus form and stifled a nod in understanding. 'There had better be something good inside of — AAARGH!'

The windows rattled and the walls shook from the loud bang that was caused by the package being pulled apart. Both Dumbledore and McGonagall fell flat on their backs, their hats blown away by the impact of the fall, and their wands rolling away to the corners of the room.

'Oh, by Merlin's beard!' the shop owner cried as he hurried out from the back of the shop. He was a heavy-set man with a white beard and a moustache. 'Are you alright, Headmaster? Madam? I think this one must've been a tad too strong. They're technically still prototypes.'

Dumbledore's nose turned red and he started giggling uncontrollably. A moment later, McGonagall joined in, and she allowed herself to be pulled up to her feet with the help of the shop owner. 'I was not expecting that,' she said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

'Glad to see you're alright, madam,' said the shop owner as he handed both of their wands back. 'If you'll both excuse me, I had better take the rest of the shelves and find a way to make them a little safer to use. Perhaps add little gifts inside of them as well...' With the same speed he had come, the shop owner disappeared into the back of the shop again.

With a loud swoosh the door of the shop suddenly swung open. The shadow of a man came swirling in and closed the door quickly behind him, as though afraid of being followed.

'Severus,' said Dumbledore happily. 'I wasn't expecting to see you here.'

'I heard a loud noise,' said Snape with a scowl towards the shelves. 'Figured I'd come to investigate. It was the best excuse I had to get away from Malfoy.'

'And I thought you were the one keeping an eye on Malfoy,' said Dumbledore. 'Or did I misinterpret that and is Malfoy, in fact, keeping an eye on you?'

'That's up for debate,' said Snape with a scoff. 'I caught a glimpse of Malfoy's son speaking to that boy at Twillfitt and Tattings. I came to the realisation that the boy hasn't even been Sorted yet. The last thing I need is for him to end up in my own house.'

'Fortunately, his parents were both in Gryffindor,' said McGonagall, ignoring Snape's air of sheer spite. 'I don't think you have much to fear, Severus. Albus, to come back to what I asked you, do you happen to know where Hagrid and the boy are right now?'

'The last thing I know is that they were making their way down to Ollivanders,' said Dumbledore, peering out of the window as though suddenly expecting to see them walking down the street. 'It's the only reason why I'm here, to tell you the truth. Not because I don't trust Hagrid enough to be alone with the boy, but because the outcome will determine the shape of our future.'

Silence fell between the headmaster and teachers. Dumbledore twiddled his elder wood wand between his fingers, deep in thought. The light-hearted atmosphere from a moment ago had suddenly subdued. McGonagall had seated herself on the windowsill, craning her neck as she looked out of the window, and Snape standing close behind her, as though focussed on the same invisible thing.

The moment was broken when Dumbledore spoke up. 'Fawkes gave two feathers during his life,' he said, his voice layered with a dark tone. 'Both were used in the creation of wands. Both were up for sale at Ollivanders. The first one was sold to an orphaned boy by the name of Tom Riddle in nineteen thirty-eight. A name you both know as Lord Voldemort's birth name. The second wand containing a feather from Fawkes is still there. And I wonder...'

'You told me a part of the Dark Lord lives inside him,' added Snape, his voice low. 'Are you wondering if that part of him will be strong enough to out itself?'

'Once a wand chooses us,' said McGonagall, 'it is, unless broken, attached to us until the end of our lives. If that wand chooses the boy, we'll know just how strong You-Know-Who's presence truly is within him.'

Silence washed over them again and wasn't broken until Snape suddenly grunted at the sight of Hagrid, his arms loaded with books, supplies and a birdcage. He walked alongside a scrawny boy named Harry Potter, who was unwrapping his new wand from the neatly wrapped box in oblivious delight.

Tiptoeing to make sure that he wasn't seen, Ollivander walked close behind them, and looked inside the window of Gambol and Japes as though he knew that Dumbledore would be there awaiting his word. Pale grey eyes met with blue, and words were not needed to be spoken to confirm that Dumbledore's prediction had come true.

Ollivander disappeared from sight, and Snape turned to McGonagall. 'His parents may have both been Gryffindors,' he said respectfully, 'but if the Dark Lord's presence is so strong within him, he may just be Sorted into my house after all.'

'It'll be up to him,' said Dumbledore. 'It'll be up to him which side he chooses, and by Merlin's beard, I hope he carries his mother's wisdom.' 


End file.
